Bank of Italy, companies’ assessments on the general economic situation have also improved
Bank of Italy he sees growth in Italy’s growth, “albeit modest” in the first quarter. This was stated by the head of the Economics and Statistics Department of the Bank of Italy, Sergio Nicoletti Altimari, during the hearing on the Def in the joint Budget Commissions of the Senate and Chamber.
“Encouraging signs – explained Altimari – come from the trend in household and business confidence and from the increase in the purchasing managers’ indices, which are back in all sectors above the threshold which corresponds to an expansion of activity. In the surveys conducted from the Bank of Italy between February and March, they are still improved business ratings on the general economic situation, supported by favorable evaluations on the evolution of demand and by the easing of the difficulties associated with energy costs and the availability of raw materials and intermediate inputs. Industrial production, after having decreased in the second half of 2022, should have increased slightly on average for the first three months of the year. Employment also continued to expand during the same period.”
Therefore, noted the exponent of Bank of Italy, “we estimate that these trends may have already translated in the first quarter of the year into a return to product growth, albeit modest”. The forecasts of the Def which indicate “GDP growth of around 1 per cent this year and 1.5 per cent next, even though they are in the upper part of the range of available estimates” are “overall consistent” with “the short-term” which “appears slightly more favourable” than the latest Bank of Italy projections published in January, which indicated an increase in GDP of 0.6 per cent in the current year and its acceleration to 1.2 per cent in the following two years. This was stated by the head of the Bank of Italy’s Economics and Statistics Department, Sergio Nicoletti Altimari, during the hearing on the Def in the joint Budget Commissions of the Senate and Chamber.
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